Dota Underlords is an autobattler game with plenty of mechanics that are key for a good performance. One of the most important of these, however, are Alliances and the effects they bring when players trigger their effects.
There are 23 Alliances in Underlords and heroes belong to two or three each. They have unique effects that players can trigger when they combine a certain number of unique units belonging to the same Alliance, such as an armor bonus by combining three, six, or nine Warriors, or unlocking additional skills for the Dragon alliance when you have two of them.
Underlords players have to look at Alliances not only for how strong they are, but how essential they are in a match. Some should be seen as core Alliances, which players should always have at least one active per match. Others are support Alliances, which will make up for what your core Alliance lacks. An offensive core alliance should always be complemented by a defensive support one, while a defensive core should be paired with an offensive one.
Check out Underlords’ core and support Alliances below, followed by a tier list of the best Alliances in the game as of the August 16 update.
Core Alliances
These are alliances you should always try to activate to their first or second level. They are key in every match you play because they dictate a certain playstyle and usually have several heroes belonging to them. They’ll also help you choose your support alliance afterward. If you don’t have one active, you’ll have a hard time making your build work.
Core Alliances can also work as support Alliances for one another.
Here are the core Underlords Alliances.
- Assassin
- Elusive
- Mage
- Warrior
- Scrappy
- Knight
- Hunter
Support Alliances
These Alliances trigger effects that are secondary to your match. If you focus too much on them, they won’t be effective because their effects aren’t strong alone, but they should work really well when combined with certain core Alliances. Without a support Alliance, a core one will either lack defensive power to stay alive and use its effects as much as it can, or lack offensive power to win fights.
Support Alliances are rarely useful as the core Alliances of a strategy.
Here are the support Underlords Alliances.
- Demon
- Demon Hunter
- Humans
- Savage
- Scaled
- Troll
- Warlock
- Brawny
- Deadeye
- Druid
- Heartless
- Dragon
- Inventor
- Primordial
- Shaman
- Blood-Bound
Alliances tier list
This tier list is based on how impactful an Alliance effect is in a match and how good the heroes are that belong to them.
Tier S
These Alliances are great overall. Going for them is always a good idea in many kinds of game plans, and units belonging to them are also impactful. They usually work well with most support Alliances and can sometimes also be used as one.
- Knight
- Brawny
- Warrior
- Warlock
- Elusive
Tier A
Alliances in this tier are very good choices. They are more dependent on combinations than those in Tier S, but they are also flexible and have good units in them.
- Primordial
- Dragon
- Savage
- Scrappy
- Inventor
- Heartless
- Demon Hunter
Tier B
These are Alliances that can work under certain circumstances and are good in specific combinations with Tiers A and S. Most of the time, they trigger effects you don’t want to invest too many resources on, and sometimes all you need is their first level to be active. You’ll rarely want a unit on your board just because they belong to Tier B.
- Demon
- Druid
- Troll
- Mage
- Hunter
- Assassin
Tier C
Alliances in tier C are extremely situational. They are mostly support alliances that are useful in specific moments of a match or against a small number of enemy team compositions. Sometimes, they’re only strong if you run them under very specific conditions, such as having Deadeye with Sniper and Gyrocopter. Unless you’re going for an odd or late-game synergy on levels nine or 10, you can skip these alliances’ bonuses.
- Scaled
- Deadeye
- Shaman
- Human
Tier D
These Alliances are straight-up bad. You want to avoid them at all costs, even in the early game. If a unit belongs to one of these Alliances, they’re probably weak units just because they don’t belong to a better one.
- Blood-Bound
We’ll update this story as Dota Underlords is updated.
